Potential NBA Expansion is Back in the Headlines

In the after math of the Seahawks first Super Bowl Championship, and Seattle’s massive post-game celebration, speculation began to emerge that the NBA would again play in the Emerald City; in fact, the first report that Silver was looking into expansion came roughly six hours after the final whistle at Met Life Stadium.

According to Sam Amico (FOX Sports Ohio) the return of the Seattle SuperSonics is one of the new Commissioner Adam Silver’s top priorities. Amico points to the fact that FOX showed a brief tribute to the 1979 World Champion Sonics, and the fan bases rabid celebration in Pioneer Square following the Super Bowl win, as a reason that there is a warming in the public perception regarding the Sonics return.

The part of the article that is most encouraging to Sonics fans, is the very ending:

“According to those in the know, the new commissioner and his staff will soon make it a priority to figure it out.”

What does that mean, it’s pretty hard to tell…but it isn’t hard for the Seattle sports fan — recently drunk off of a Super Bowl win and blind sports love — to assume that this means that the league will be making expanding to Seattle soon.

It is important to note that Amico doesn’t have the best reputation in the Cleveland area, and that he is a regional writer weighing on a situation that has nothing to do with his assigned areas. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a source who has an insight into the league’s office; there is the possibility that he could have a source close to Dan Gilbert, and that Gilbert thinks that expanding to Seattle is something that needs to happen.

It is also completely possible that Amico is just making up this article to get some easy page hits; you just never really know.

That being said, the more we hear about the NBA seriously looking into expansion…the more likely the league is really looking into expansion. After all, where there is smoke there is more than likely a fire.

4 replies

Seattle never should have lost a franchise and it’s a disgrace one hasn’t been restored before now. Let’s hope there is some substance to this and the injustice is reversed. I have many fond memories of the Sonics and would love to see them back in the Association.